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A virus that was first found in sewers and shares its name – P22 – with a semi-automatic handgun might seem an unlikely object of beauty.

But to Carolyn M. Teschke, professor of molecular and cell biology, P22 is not only beautiful, it has absorbed her attention since she was a postdoctoral researcher in the early ‘90s at MIT.

She recently was awarded a renewal of her $1.2 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to study how P22 assembles itself, knowledge that could one day be applied to other, more complex viruses. Ultimately, this type of basic research could help identify ways for drugs to target viruses, such as those that cause the flu or common colds.

P22, which only infects Salmonella bacteria, might itself become an object of interest – and beauty – to more than microbiologists. As bacteria become more and more resistant to antibiotics, interest is renewing in phage therapy, or using bacteriophages (viruses that attack bacteria) to combat infections.

While phage therapy was first popularized in the early 20th century, the discovery of antibiotics overshadowed it. Now that antibiotics are losing effectiveness, clinical trials are being done in the U.S. on using phages for wound therapy, among other things. In other parts of the world, such as eastern Europe, phage therapy has long been more popular.

Bacteriophages have also been identified as potential defensive weapons in bio-warfare.

But Teschke’s interest in P22 is more basic. She wants to know how it forms its capsid, an outer shell of proteins that encapsulates its DNA. Each capsid of P22 has exactly 420 proteins – no more, no less – arranged in a sphere that is always the same size. It looks, Teschke says, like a perfect little soccer ball, only the inside contains genetic material.

“We don’t understand how the proteins know to do this,” she says. “And they generally don’t make mistakes.”

An image of P22, a bacteriophage (virus) that attacks salmonella.

When P22 attacks Salmonella, its DNA takes over Salmonella’s own replication process to produce more of itself. Eventually, P22 overwhelms the Salmonella.

Viruses have a wide variety of shapes and sizes, all starting with a protein. Knowing how they form would help scientists understand how to inhibit their formation and how to design drugs to do this.

P22 has a simpler structure than viruses such as HIV or herpes, making it an ideal subject for study. All of its double-stranded DNA has been identified, and biologists know what all of its proteins do. They can mutate it and see what changes, knowing which protein caused the change.

In altering it, “We find the ones that don’t make the right things,” says Teschke. By mutating P22, they can force it to form tubes instead of spheres, or to make spheres of the wrong size, for instance.

“So, we can get ideas about what parts of the capsid protein are important to determine size or shape,” she says.

“We are hoping that by understanding a very simple virus, we’ll be able to translate that understanding to a more complex one.”

That would include any virus that has a capsid – such as the adenoviruses that cause respiratory infections like the common cold. A capsid inhibitor could then halt the virus’s formation at an early stage.

“It’s definitely possible that we could someday develop a drug that would specifically inhibit a particular virus,” she says.

Join us for a talk by Gina Barreca,2018 UCONN BOARD OF TRUSTEESDISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH

All great works of fiction, poetry and dramaâas well as texts forming mythologies, religions, national epics to heroic sagasâhave loneliness at the heart of their narrative. From Persephone to Peter Pan, from âFrankensteinâ to âFrozen,â the stories we pass along are saturated with unwilling isolation.âOnly around half of Americans say they have meaningful, daily face-to-face social interactions,â according to a 2017 study. A former U.S. Surgeon General argues that âWe live in the most technologically connected age in the history of civilization, yet rates of loneliness have doubled since the 1980s.â We need more than social media. We need social contact. We need community. How can we break through the loneliness barrier? Being alone when in need of companionship is more than sad; itâs an epidemic.Chronic loneliness is as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes per day. We need to change our national story and, often, our personal ones as well.Even the concept of the âlone wolfâ is a myth. Wolves hunt in packs.

Reception to follow.

For more information about this event, or if you are an individual who requires special accommodation to participate, please contact the CLAS Deanâs Office at (860) 486-2713.

A liberal arts and sciences degree prepares students with the tools they need to excel across a wide range of careers. Given the number of options available to you, it can be overwhelming to narrow down career choices. Attending CLAS Career Night will provide you exposure to career opportunities for CLAS students.

This semesterâs focus will be on research-based careers. During this event you will engage with CLAS alumni, learn about various occupations, and gain insight about how to best prepare for your future career.

The McNair Scholars Program and the Office of Undergraduate Research invite you to join us for a brown bag research seminar.

Birds, Bacteria, and Bioinformatics: Why Evolutionary Biology is the Best

Sarah Hird, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Molecular and Cell Biology

This series is open to all undergraduate and graduate students, and is designed especially for students conducting (or interested in conducting) STEM research. These seminars are opportunities to learn about research being pursued around campus, to talk with faculty about their path into research, and to ask questions about getting involved in research.

About CLAS

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is the academic core of learning and research at UConn. We are committed to the full spectrum of academics across the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. We give students a liberal arts and sciences education that empowers them with broad knowledge, transferable skills, and an ability to think critically about important issues across a variety of disciplines.